We all reach a point in our lives where we feel like we’ve hit a wall or don’t have time to focus on ourselves. I’m sure that feeling comes in waves throughout life…stuck in your career, dealing with the day to day of kids, waiting to retire. I’m only 33 and don’t have kids yet, but I also haven’t had the wherewithal to step back and evaluate those deeper questions until now. The reason why is a post for another day, but I recently had to start over. Things have picked up and the routine is settling in.

Routine isn’t bad! Not at all. I’m definitely a bit more of an antsy person — I need to stay engaged and not get bored, no matter what I’m doing. That said, especially because I work from home now, knowing what time I work and what time I focus on something else is crucial (probably the ADHD in me 😅). I like knowing that at around 5p.m. I’m done with work and can choose what to do next…the problem is that it’s way too easy to sink into my couch and turn on whatever I feel like watching that day.

All of that said, I try to follow a mantra every day: learn something new and try to be better. I also try to build on any momentum in forming habits. If I remembered to buy fruit yesterday, I’m going to try to eat it today. It sounds SO silly – and maybe it is – but it’s still a conscious effort to be better. 

So even though I don’t have the time or energy every day to sit down and read technical books, I make sure to do something productive. It could be 15 minutes of learning something new or clarifying a concept. It could be doing some meal prep to make me and my partner be a bit more healthy. 

If I can keep that momentum going, I know that I’m still growing as a person— and that’s what’s important to me these days.